Canada Day Celebrations

I would like to start this message by acknowledging the Town of Hanna staff on the excellent job they did for the Canada 150 celebration. The event was very successful, and the weather, for the most part, cooperated. I would also like to thank the residents of Hanna for joining in on the celebration and I hope everyone had a great time.

Grand Opening of the Library

Congratulations to the Hanna Municipal Library on their Grand Opening! I was honoured to be able to say a few words of congratulations at the event. The design and workmanship on the renovation and expansion is impeccable. This new facility will meet their needs and the needs of the region for many years to come. I would be very remiss if I did not mention the significant donation from the Mary Bye estate, which truly got the ball rolling on the necessary renovations. Please take some time to drop by and see the amazing work that has been done.

Coal transition

On the Coal transition front, it has been very quiet. Jay Slemp, Jordon Christianson and myself were fortunate to set up a meeting with Minister of Municipal Affairs, Shaye Anderson, and representatives from Environment, Energy and Economic Development and Trade in late May. Discussion centered on some of the challenges we have been faced with and asked for their assistance to move forward with attracting business and industry to our region. Since this meeting, we have not heard back from government regarding our concerns. While I realize this time of year is very busy for everyone, I am rather frustrated with the lack of communication. A second set of letters have been sent to Ministries of Energy, Economic Development and Trade, and Environment requesting face to face meetings with those respective Ministers to discuss how we have proposed moving forward. To date the only reply we have received is from the Ministry of Environment. We have requested that these face to face meetings take place prior to the end of August as we feel time is of the essence. We will continue to advocate to the government to have the very best outcome for our region.